


Versipellis

by AlluringMary



Series: Here Be Monsters [1]
Category: Twilight (Movies), Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: And other crunchy bits, And the suffocating feeling of dread that is finding out about supernatural beings, Eventual Romance, F/M, Family Drama, Reader-Insert, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-16
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2019-07-13 00:51:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 9,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16006838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlluringMary/pseuds/AlluringMary
Summary: Of course, it begins with a death.Too bad you're too preoccupied being a normal teen to notice the wild things closing in around you.





	1. July 2000

**Author's Note:**

> Is this fandom dead yet?
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Then it's my time to shine!

_Wake of grandfather Young_

_Makah Reservation, Washington_

_July 2000_

 

You had only met your grandfather once when you were four years old and that had been for the next five years of your life the only contact you had ever had with your mother’s side of the family.

 

At nine, your mom had taken you up North to Washington and only once you got there and been covered from head to toe in black did you understand this was not a simple vacation or family reunion. It was a cold, humid day that caused your hair to puff and stand up in all kinds of direction and for all those reasons, you did not like this lost little town.

 

When you asked her who died, she had stopped moving altogether in the hotel room she had rented out for the two of you. You were sitting on the bed with your nice black dress on, playing with the hem that reached past your knees.

“Do you remember your grandfather? My dad?” She had asked in a small voice, full of emotion and you had looked right back at her and said, confused, “No?”

You knew you had family here, relatives you hadn’t seen in years but it was your mother who had walked out on them and never introduced you to anyone. As early as nine, you resented her for that, why was she crying, why was she sad that you didn’t remember someone you met once half a decade ago?

That was her fault, not yours.

 

After you were ready, she brushed your hair one more time to get it all down – a losing battle – and sat you in the car. The tiny buildings and houses grew more and more scarce as the car went, being replaced by thin trees and soon dense woods. This was so unlike back in Spokane, you didn’t like it. She turned on a path in what you decided was the middle of nowhere and only then did you ask, “Mom, where are we going?”

She kept her eyes on the road as little houses appeared along the way, “Waatch. I grew up there.” She kept driving, speeding by a small town by the water shrouded in mist. “What was that?”

“Neah Bay, you have cousins there.”

The car went along the road, one or two cars passed you but apart from trees and the road, nothing stood in your way. “Why did you leave?” Some more houses bloomed on the right side of the road, then a small building.

“Life around here is hard, I wanted something easier as a child.”

 

You were about to ask another question when one house caught your eye, mainly because there were a dozen cars parked near it and your mother was pulling over there. “You lived there?” You pointed to the house with cracked blue paint, “It looks old.”

“Yes, it does.” She stopped the car and took a deep breath, tightening her grip on the steering wheel. You got out yourself, closing the door behind you. The ground was wet and muddy, like it had just rained and if your hair was any indication, it just did.

Her own car door snapped shut, a group of men in casual clothes were outside, sipping on glass bottles. Your mother took your hand in hers and walked you to the porch. She stopped to receive a hug from one of them, that was Harry Clearwater, your first cousin once removed, she told you. As a kid, you wondered what he could have possibly done to be removed from the family and then be brought back in and asked him right there and then and only got a short silence before barks of laughter broke out between your mother, him and the two others who had witnessed it all for your trouble. He had a boy and a girl too, Seth and Leah, about your age, you should go see them inside.

 

So, you had been brought inside the house. The atmosphere wasn’t strained like your mother was but still, she kept a firm hold on your hand and walked you around, prompting you to greet and introduce yourself as you went. Some recognized you, asked you if you did in return.

After those painfully awkward one-sided conversations, your aunt – apparently – with sad eyes and dark hair cut in a short, severe style put a hand on the back of your head and walked you over to a group of what you could hesitantly call children. They were taller, older, except for one.

The youngest of the group, Seth, was already eight and made fun of your frizzy hair. You didn’t like him. Your aunt introduced you, calling out to her own daughter, Emily. She wasn’t that much taller and had short black hair that pained to reach past her chin whilst Leah, at her side, had waist length straight hair. They were both thirteen but got you into a game they played and you stayed with them for the rest of the wake.

 

Unbeknownst to you, fast forward five years, your grasp and view of the world would run straight into a wall and never fully recover from the impact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a little brown girl, it is my right to like big brown men.  
> Thank you.
> 
> Well, this chapter's short and I haven't finished the whole thing yet so you know what that means MILLEFEUILLE number 2 baby!
> 
>    
> (i promis i'll work on it, i promise)


	2. Ocotber 2000

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've written a bunch of exposition so why not post those chapters in rapid succession?

_Early October, 2000_

 

When your mother informs you of her decision to stay here, you are – rightfully so – pissed. You miss Spokane, your small house seven minutes away from downtown, the noises of the city spilling into your classroom, the friends you made back _home_. Your mother presses that this is your family you will be living with, to you they are still strangers.

You stay home for another month until someone decides to buy the house from your mother. Only then do you pack everything you have in your old bedroom and plant everything in the car. You sold the furniture long ago, the dishware, washing machine, dryer and anything your mother wanted to keep are already at your late grandfather’s old house.

 

Your mother insists this is a good change, that it’s time for you to get to know your family. You already like Leah and Emily, don’t you? Plus, she found a job in the neighboring town, isn’t that great? You nod, still sour over the loss of your past life. You’ve been crying all night, your mother wouldn’t let you go to a sleepover at your friend’s and you missed your only chance to see them one last time. She doesn’t know their parents, does she? She couldn’t let you go to a stranger’s house!

 

It’s already October, everything is dead, cold and gray with touches of red and orange. And whilst now you blame your mother for this, it is only years later that you understand – quite ashamedly too – that this was a last resort and nothing else.

When you settle in the old house, it’s already furnished and painted. There are a few houses scattered over the land, some your mother tells you not to go near. The backyard might as well be a forest, since it’s linked directly to the woods around the house. The Clearwaters live three houses down, a fifteen minute walk and you’re at their door. Emily and her mom live a little farther away in Neah Bay but it’s easy to get there by car.

To you they’re not even family just yet and you pain to see them as friends for the next few weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, nobody asked and I think nobody cares but I want to say that the reader here is at the very least a quarter native but most likely half native and mixed with whatever.
> 
> Have a nice day!


	3. June 2002

_June 2002_

 

Leah has a boyfriend, one she can’t shut up about. She talks about tall he is, how smart he can be. He is only sixteen and does community service around the rez, everyone says he’ll go far, that he’s got the brains for it. He wants to move to DC and become an attorney--

Yeah, Sam Uley is pretty cool. Scratch that, he’s the shit around here. He even outshines the current students who have went away to get their degrees. You’ve bumped into him a couple of times, it’s only normal, everyone knows everyone around these parts.

He doesn’t care for long hair like some of his friends and always stands out because of that. You had always nursed jealousy over this, you wished you had the choice to have either short or long hair and never regret your decision to cut it. He was nice, diligent, not involved in any scuffle at school and seemingly head-over-heels for your cousin Leah. They spent their afternoons together and Emily, as grown up as she was now also got a boyfriend. He was a boy, still maturing, and you had no grounds to critic her boyfriend when you never had one before so you cheered her on when she brought him back to the house to meet her mother. He is quiet, really reserved but decent, you’d think.

 

You were just twelve and your mother threatened to put a slow and torturous end to your life if you even considered getting close to the boys at your school.

 

So whilst your cousins went their own way and discovered the joy of having their boyfriends around, you fell back onto the new friends you made. You walk back home with a gaggle of middle-schoolers like yourself – never be alone, never – and stay over at friends’ houses more often than back in Spokane.

Your first kiss is at thirteen, the white boy you kiss has braces and it’s wet and weird. He lives back in Port Angeles and you thank God you won’t have to see him at the beach. You choose not to do it again and not to say a thing to anyone.

Your mother works long shifts in an old deserted municipal library. She’s at the front desk, taking care of adherents and checking books in and out. She’s one of two people working there, she opens the place at 9AM and closes it at 8PM. But at 8:30, she works part-time at a dinner and comes home around 1AM on week-ends.

She doesn’t talk much about it but you know something is off, that the money goes somewhere East and you don’t pry.

 

You know how to cook, and learned to get ready and go to school alone whilst she is still sleeping in her downstairs bedroom. She is not an alcoholic, smokes cigs only once in a while and only when you’re away. She may disregard your privacy and burst into your room when she comes back home early to check on you or to surprise you in case you have a boy over but she’s caring all around – in her own twisted way.

She doesn’t give you the Talk, one morning when it’s her day off and your first period teacher is absent, she slides a book over to you on the dining table. It’s a disgustingly flashy pink color, there are over-sized hearts and badly drawn characters holding hands on the front page and the title reads in cursive, _Baby, love your body_.

You choke on your cereal and she goes to sit on the couch to turn the TV on. Over the sound of the news and your coughs, you hear her say, “I have to take it back in five days.”

 

And that’s the end of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it bad I am so passionate about minor characters?  
> I always catch myself thinking about that dude in assassin's creed IV you kill right in the beginning, or that one (really well built, I must admit) warrior in Pocahontas that gets ten minutes tops of screen time...
> 
> Why am I like this?
> 
> Also I think I have a thing for fictional serial killers, like Jason Voorhees and Eddy Gluskin kind of serial killer which is really fucked up now that I think about it.
> 
> And why am I wiritng this in the fucking end notes?  
> What the fuck?
> 
>  
> 
> Well, the story should actually pick up by the next chapter with an even more beneficial time jump!
> 
> Fasten your seatbelts~


	4. December 2005

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's 2005 and you might just think Sam Uley is gay.

 

_December 2005_

 

It’s the 23rd of December and your mother dragged you over to the Clearwaters’ house. You would have been just fine going if it hadn’t been 41F outside and your mom insisted on walking. You arrive, cold and wet and receive the typical bear hug from Harry and Sue. Seth is being a recluse upstairs, too bad since you had taken a liking to his brand new PlayStation2.

Leah is sitting on the couch and nestled to – lo and behold – none other than Sam Uley. The same man that has disappeared off the rez for some time and began missing his classes. He isn’t the type to slack off and people are asking questions about him but Leah doesn’t seem bothered by it all judging by the way she’s basking in his presence alone. Even more strange that he actually landed a spot in the council – it has to help that Harry is also a member, you think. Uley flashes you a small smile and Leah does the same, whispering undoubtedly sickly sweet nothings in his ear.

You get out of your coat and have half the mind to climb up the stairs and bother Seth when the door opens behind you and cold air freezes your back. It’s only Claire and her mother, you amuse the toddler for a while before you decide to go up the stairs, stuck in between the adults’ strange whispers and a quite amorous couple.

 

Claire’s mother hands you her kid and her bag and you drag the little baby upstairs as well. Seth is actually focused on an espionage game, his hirsute character is trailing through a thick forest and swamps wearing a crocodile hat on his head.

 

“’sup?” He throws your way when you deposit the little girl on the ground, “Is the couch too crowded, or what?” Claire goes to hug his back and you shove him with your knee, sitting cross legged next to him to watch the screen.

 

“You could say that,” Claire comes to sit in front of you, hugging a red stuffed toy. A real crocodile pokes its snout out from the muddy water and Seth is forced to retreat to the shore and sneak behind soldiers. A few minutes pass like that, with the distant voices from downstairs, the sound effects from the small stereo TV and Claire’s small happy gurgles filling the room.

Then you say, “Isn’t Sam… acting weird?”

 

“Yeah,” He says after a while, “Leah doesn’t talk about it but… He’d been gone for two weeks.” He pauses the game so he can turn to you, “I heard people say he’s on drugs.”

 

“No way!” You almost shout in surprise, that’s Sam fucking Uley you’re talking about, the future lawyer, the perfect son-in-law, the teen without a father supporting his own mother! “Isn’t he a council member now!?”

 

“I know! My parents say not to worry about it but they’re even worse.” He says back, “And he’s been so strange around me. Like looking at me and shit.” He takes a look at the door behind you, making sure it’s closed and leans to say in your ear, “I think he’s gay.”

Your mouth drops open and he gives you _the look_ before turning back to the game. You actually snort before laughing, louder and louder and Claire joins in, unaware of the current situation.

 

Sue comes to get you three down to eat, Emily should swing by with her mom later. Seth gets Claire and you, still high over the gossip about the interested, you can’t muster enough courage to look Sam in the eye. You’ve always been awful at hiding your emotions and lying is far from being your forte so you resort to sitting quietly and picking at your plate.

Near 11, when you’ve already put Claire to sleep in Seth’s bedroom, Emily shuffles inside with her mom. You exchange hugs and your aunt apologizes, they got a flat tire and had to retreat back inside. In this weather of all things!

 

And when the two of them sit down, one person is as silent as a tomb.

 

And they stare.

 

Well he stares.

 

Like, Sam _motherfucking_ Uley stares.

 

And for an ungodly amount of time too, so much that Leah seems to notice it right away. She pinches his bicep, he spares her a second, hell not even that before his eyes are back on Emily.

Sue and Harry look in shock, Seth kicks your shin under the table, your mom, Claire’s and of course Emily stop talking for a moment. The house grows silent in an instant except the occasional chewing noises coming from Claire.

 

As if to add salt to injury, the golden boy says under his breath, “Emily...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't seem to understand why people find Edward hot, he's just so bland.
> 
> He looks like unseasoned chicken to me tbh


	5. February 7th 2006 I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An update in three days?  
> A miracle!
> 
> Also, thank you Roux for making this a bookmark! And to Chetto, SadDadHusband, Nihama9492 and to all the lovely guests for your support!
> 
> If my skin was any lighter, I swear I'd be blushing!

_February 5 th 2006_

 

Seth and you walk up to your house, his having become hostile territory since Leah and Sam’s breakup. The night had turned ugly with Emily right smack in the middle with no clue of what was happening. Sam broke up with Leah in front of her parents, just like that whilst Seth tried his best to do damage control.

Sam had left in his truck without speaking to Emily first, your mother had taken you both upstairs. Your cousin was shaken, still not understanding what had just happened and in _seconds_ Leah was in her face -- you were tempted to believe she would have went for her throat if it hadn’t been for you serving as a human shield between your two cousins.

 

From what you gathered, Sam went to visit Emily every day since the incident, he was relentless in pursuing her. She sent him away every time, she already had a boyfriend and was still raw about him causing such a rift between her and Leah who had been a sister to her since… diapers basically.

 

You both tread through the snow, you talk about that new game you got from Christmas, your oncoming birthday, anything that isn’t Sam, Leah or Emily. There are concerning news around the rez, about a girl named Sarah. She’s just come back from the hospital. People say she’s been cornered during a jog and… Yeah.

Seth doesn’t elaborate and no one needs to. There were two men, white with blue and red bandannas across their mouth and nose. You don’t think you’ve ever seen her, she’s twenty five or so. You’ll be dressing in red for the rest of the week. Then there’s this teenage girl found floating by the bay, completely blue and lifeless. The local newspaper prints photos of her bloated body on its front page in a morbid reach for sales and everyone around you talks about how any other girls could be next.

Your mom wants you inside or in her sight until the beginning of classes and if you go outside, you must be with Seth or friends at all times. She wakes you early in the morning and you spend the day at the library she works at, studying and making calls to your friends from the payphone in the hall. She agrees to let you go once or twice to go meet up with some friends but that’s it.

One day Seth comes along with his group of friends and you hang out with them for a few days. Jacob is a… nice addition to your social circle, he has a blinding smile, nice shoulders even under a thick coat and he is… really tall. You think you might just be developing a crush on him.

 

…

 

_February 7 th 2006_

_13:09 PM_

 

Oh right, newsflash, another kid went missing. He’s not a kid per say but that’s what the elders like to call anyone under twenty five. He is in senior year, same class as Sam and people around you begin to think Sam may actually be influencing the other kids.

You’re just fifteen and you’re trying to get to high school and remain on honor roll so you listen to your mom and stay away from those guys. She also quits her second job so she’ll be able to drive you to school in the morning. And after exchanging hundreds of calls with Emily, your mother finally agrees to let you go up there and talk to her. She equips you with pepper spray and fills your pocket with coins and you get in the car before she can change her mind.

 

You don’t have a license yet but you know how to drive and it is with great reluctance that your mother watches you drive away. You reach Emily’s place in a handful of minutes, she’s pacing back and forth inside.

You park, she doesn’t come outside so you step inside. She’s almost in tears, her eyes are puffy and her hair falls limply on her shoulders.

It just had to be this kind of fucking day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I have the feeling almost no one reads those notes so I'm gonna confess.
> 
> I fear whales.  
> I hate those huge bitches.  
> Way too big and why on GOD do they need to be underwater!?
> 
> Whales are fucking creeps, people. I'll help if I see a beached whale or whatever but underwater? I am in THEIR territory, those sluts would swallow me whole.
> 
> Well anyway, I have a shit ton of stuff to do for school and. I. Am. Getting. Fucking. Pimples.  
> So done with life, LORD


	6. February 7th 2006 II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to Boelca and another guest for leaving me some kudos!

 

_February 7 th 2006_

_13:31 PM_

 

“I don’t know!” Emily keeps sobbing. She had cracked a little while after you arrived, obviously distraught over the situation. “I know I shouldn’t bother you with all this, you’re so young--” You’re only three years her junior, come on. She sniffs and talks about Sam, how he comes everyday just to be next to her for a few moments, she’s afraid he lurks around the house when she’s not there. “It’s those eyes,” She says in between chokes, “I can’t deal with that! He’s been away for three days and I still feel like he’s there!”

 

“You talked to Sue, right?” You say after some time, “She told me that the issue would fix itself, hell she told me not to even go up to see you and I don’t understand.” Emily shakes her head but now you’re riled up, thinking about perfect Sam and his stalker behavior, Sue and Harry’s enabling – God, you could snap! “Why are you all scared of him? Why won’t you just tell him to fuck off!?”

 

“It’s...” And she doesn’t say anything else, just gets up and walk towards the open kitchen, “You wouldn’t understand.”

 

“You’re defending him, now!?” You trip on your own words, “He harasses you, fucks up your relationship with Leah and now-- I wouldn’t understand!? What the fuck is that supposed to mean!?” You scream and just as the same time, two dry knocks on wood echo in the house. Mind you, Emily’s family home is lost in the woods. If yours was close to the forest, hers might as well be on top of the Rocky Mountains.

You both turn to the door, it can only be one of four (five?) persons.

 

  1. Emily’s mother but she has been gone for a couple of days now

  2. Leah who has come to settle things with her cousin

  3. Harry/Sue who have learned from your mom where you were and have come to get you for some obscure reason

  4. That crazy – gay? – drug addict/stalker that has been bothering her for over a month




 

 

“Please-” Emily makes a move to go towards it but you ignore her and go straight for the door. You pull it open, letting in cold wind and wet leaves. And there, in front of you stands person number 4.

He doesn’t look shaken by you being there, perhaps he is a little jumpy but all bets are off with this man. He has this dry expression set on his face, it wouldn’t even surprise you if he had heard everything you just said.

 

“What do you want?” You snap when he doesn’t talk first. Your hands are getting numb because of the low temperature and the giant in front of you is not even wearing a coat, just some sweater. You make a note to yourself to look up what kind of drug can cause someone to become numb to temperature.

 

“I need to see Emily.” He answers, looking from out beyond you, “I know she’s here.” He takes a step towards the door and you block him, quite pitifully at that. The guy towers over you and his face, that always appeared older, grows stern. Somehow, he finds enough decency to grit through his teeth a please when he asks you to get out the way.

It’s Emily that pries you away from the doorway and ushers Uley inside. He seems to _bask_ in her presence, even a dopey smile begins to appear on his face.

 

You're getting pretty fucking tired of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> February 7th is going to be a long ride and also where the story more or less picks up because I'm a lazy fuck that knows nothing about good plot management!
> 
> Thank God no one reads these


	7. February 7th 2006 III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HUGE THANKS to JaxFrost and bringer_of_insanity (who also bookmarked this, thank you!!!) and to all the amazing guests for those kudos, I can't believe you are still into this -- just like me!

_13:44 PM_

 

_She doesn’t look at him but turns to you, “I’ll take it from here.” Emily has this look, the same look your mother had when your father arrived late at home and she guided you back into your room as he thundered up the stairs. She’s afraid. She’s completely petrified and yet does her best to hide it._

_She hands you your coat and you hug her, whispering “I won’t be far.”_

 

And you’re not. You walk back to your mom’s car and look back to the house. You can’t hear any screams but you can’t relax, you’re too wound up. You’re scared of going inside and looking like a fool but you’re even more scared of going in and not being able to help and end up as another statistic in the crime section of this year’s BIA’s annual report.

The land around you is covered in snow and the ground you walk on is frozen, you’re scared to fall if you venture a little bit away. You hop in the driver’s seat and burrow your face in your scarf, you watch as your phone’s clock leisurely change as time goes by, you’re too anxious to play a game on it. Ten minutes after you left the house, you decide enough time has passed and get out into the cold, you slide a little awkwardly and open the front door to slip in.

 

The cold hits you first, the place was warm just some minutes ago but you’ve already hung your coat. Then the smell makes an entrance when you walk inside, a smell of rust ground with salt, a smell that reminds you of spoiled blood--

 

“What the fuck have you done!?” You remember screeching to no one, collecting a bloody and scarily still Emily into your arms, her face, her chest, her arm. There’s dark red blood everywhere and no Sam in sight. Her skin under layers and layers of red blood is pale and cold, only warmed where you touch her.

“Hold on, hold on!” Your phone, you could call-! Who the hell could you call, the fucking hospital is an hour away and-- God, her face. You nudge her times and times again in hopes of getting an answer, looking every other minute over your shoulder to see if Sam -- the only possible culprit -- is stil lurking around.

The living room is upside down, the couch, table, TV, anything between her and the smashed bay window is pure madness. You clench your phone in your hand, you don’t know where to put your hands, everything is so dark so sticky, her entire right side is torn up, how do you stop the bleeding!?

You're in limbo for what feels like days.

 

…

 

_14:57 PM_

 

Somehow, Sue makes it to the cabin. You wonder if you're the one who called her, you have almost no recollection of the events besides the color red and Emily's wailing before you heard the metallic sound of the chains around her tires when she parked outside.

 

As a nurse, she knows just what to do.

As in, she pushes you to the side and barks orders at you whilst she takes cares of her niece. Your hands are still covered in blood when you ransack the cupboards in the kitchen and bathroom to find gauze, antiseptics, towels, anything to stop the bleeding. Your aunt cleans the blood, Emily keeps crying, clenching her teeth, cursing, wailing like a dying animal.

Then Sue stops, saying it’s the best she can do right now. You help her carry Em to her truck, you’re going to the hospital and you’re going to keep your hands where she tells you to.

 

Perhaps half-way into the ride, something goes off in your brain and even as you keep Emily’s head on your knees in the backseat, you ask yourself, ‘What about Sam? He’s still out there, with a knife!’ How could you not have seen it? He was wearing a sweater! You didn’t even hear anything, didn’t even see him destroy the place!

 

“Sue, we need to do something. He’s dangerous.”

 

“Sam couldn’t have done this.”

 

It has to be the shock of seeing your relative in a pool of blood in the middle of a chaotic mess that was once her home and holding her as she kept bleeding and crying for help but-- Sue’s words don’t register immediately.

 

“I’m sorry, what?”

 

“I _said_ , Sam couldn’t have done this. Keep your hands on the towel.”

 

“You’re protecting him?” You respond after a few minutes, shaken. You look back down at Emily, her wounds, the blood staining her hair and clothes and yet, still find a way to speak slowly, calmly. “You see all this. And… You’re protecting him? After what he did to Leah? Your daughter?”

 

“You don’t understand.” Those three little words set off something dark in you, that anger that had already been bubbling in your core when you were arguing with Emily boils over.

 

“He could have killed her!” You snap, you can hear your voice getting louder and surprise yourself when it becomes a shout. “And you’re on his side!”

 

“I’m not on anyone’s side!” She bites out, her eyes still on the road. “You don’t know what all of this is about! As long as we’re in public, Sam was _not_ there.”

 

“He disfigured her!” You can feel your own face truss up like a wild animal ready to maul at its prey, “Look at what he did to her! He’s a monster!”

 

“I will explain! I will!” Her voice cracks and hearing it somewhat puts off your ire. Sue has always been a rock for your mother, a guiding hand for you when you were just a kid and didn’t know anyone in this lost misty town. You’re angry, you’re mad. The pain is still there, scalding hot but then, the tears -- both yours and hers -- come. “I promise, I will.”

Your aunt wipes her tears with the back of her arm, before looking straight ahead. Emily is unconscious, you keep your hands on the towel covering her right shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest, I really hate the way I ended this chapter. It took me weeks to give birth to that and I still feel like it's rushed. Oh well, that's probably what women feel like all over the country when they learn they're preggos.
> 
> Fun fact about me: My mom found out she was pregnant with me the same month she decided to file for divorce!


	8. February 7th 2006 IV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for all those kudos and comments!
> 
> I'll work hard on this, I promise!

_17:19 PM_

 

The clinic is mostly empty except for the skeletal staff, one doctor, a few nurses here and there and the cleaning lady. She actually points you to the nearest bathroom where you clean up your hands and forearms. The inside of your coat is also stained, there’s brown dry bits under your fingernails, you nearly vomit when you spot a piece of flesh clinging to your sweater.

You splash lukewarm water on your face and collect your courage to step back outside-

Someone, in an unfamiliar voice, calls your name and you turn to see some tall man come up the hallway towards you. For a second, you’re scared it is Sam coming to finish his work and drive his knife into your side but as the tall man gets closer, you realize his shoulders aren’t as wide, his face is more open, his voice doesn’t match up.

 

It’s not Sam.

 

“Yeah?”

 

He’s wearing baggy jeans with an open sweater that reveals a thin and stained shirt underneath. How is he not dead from hypothermia yet? You can tell he came from outside, his shoes leave wet footprints behind him, he has to be with--“I’m Jared.”

 

“Cool.”

 

He nods, frowning the slightest bit, “Yeah, huh, right. I’m...” He hesitates a little, perhaps conflicted on whatever he has to say.

 

You, however, want to get back to Sue and pry that grand explanation out of her so you can make for the police station as soon as possible, “I… I need to get back.” You try to sidestep him but he puts his hands up.

 

“Wait, I know that. Sue sent me. I’m… Well I’m Sam’s friend.”

 

Your brain slowly processes what just came out of his mouth as you stare up at him dumbly and after a while, forces you to take a step back. You’re immensely terrified about these guys and yes, you insist you will not end up as another statistic. No way.

 

“I’m not gonna hurt you.” He reassures, looking over your shoulder hurriedly where there’s most likely a nosy nurse trying to figure out what’s going on, “I swear.” You take another step back, your heel bumping against the bathroom door. The sound agitates him a little, he sighs through his nose, “Okay, look.” His left hand disappears in his back pocket before surfacing with a cellphone. “I’m the one who called Sue, I got her there in time to help with Emily.”

He turns the mobile to you and indeed, in the call log, there’s four outgoing calls directed to Sue Clearwater around 2PM, there are a few more to ‘idiot#1’ and ‘fuckface’ but you don’t comment on it.

 

Slowly, you settle down and he lets his phone hang between you for a little while, “Okay.” You say, voice shakier than you’d like, “Spit it out then.”

 

Jared sighs, and that’s a huge breath coming right from his diaphragm. You feel like you should be the one feeling exasperated. “It’s gonna be a long night.”

 

 

…

 

_18:28 PM_

 

“And that’s about it.” Jared – AKA that one kid that has been missing for two weeks, AKA Sam’s friend, AKA a fucking werewolf, AKA a junkie – says.

You’re back in Emily’s room, there aren’t any patients in the other beds, Sue has been leaning against the door for a little over an hour and Jared is sitting in the chair next to Em’s head.

 

And what about you, may you ask?

You’re sitting on the side of the bed, being fed complete bullshit by three very messed up individuals.

Take Jared for example, he’s that one who has been tripping in the woods for two weeks straight on hallucinogen drugs strong enough to make him firmly believe he can turn into a wolf at will and decided he is also with Sam Uley and Paul Lahote in some sort of… pack? Now, you’ve heard of Lahote and his behavioral problems and the fact that he would end up as an addict doesn’t surprise you at all and come one you’d already suspected there was an ongoing drug problem at the rez’ high school.

No, the real shocker is that through some bullshit legend dating back hundreds of years, those three idiots convinced Sue Clearwater and apparently the entire council that werewolves are real. You understand the need, the desire, the desperation to preserve your culture and history as it’s doomed to disappear with only a few thousands of you remaining but… really?

 

“You don’t believe us, do you?”

 

You’re ready to give Jared the driest look of all time when you realize the voice came from behind you. You turn on your ass to look at Emily, she has bandages covering half her face and another roll around her right arm.

“You were right.” She goes on, looking at you with that single brown eye. Emily had always looked pensive but this time, she looks so sad. “Sam did this to me. But not with a knife.”

 

You had theorized that Sam had been high on whatever drugs he used when he came to her door and went into that state of mind where he could not discern his actions from the ‘wolf’ and had hacked at her with a blade… However, if even Emily tried to reason with you…

 

“He’s sorry. He only left because he thought you were dead, he wouldn’t listen to me and I had to get help.” Jared says, looking down at his feet, “I would have been here if I could.”

 

“So he changed.” You say, completely done with this, “He turned into… a wolf and attacked her.”

 

“In a way, yes.” Sue says, and it startles you a little, she has been silent for a long time, “He changed, out of anger, I suppose and one of his paw must have caught onto her.”

 

“He missed my eye, you know.” She let out a small laugh accompanied with an abysmal smile that didn’t reach her eye at all, “The nurse insisted she covers it just in case but I can see just fine.”

 

You can’t simply say ‘that is good!’ Or ‘thank God!’ – what the fuck are you supposed to say to someone who just had half their face reduced to thin strips of skin? You do not know so you nod, looking down at the ground.

 

“I could show you.” Jared says and you look back up at him, “Not here, obviously. But later.”

 

“I’m not going anywhere with you all alone.”

 

“You need to get your mother’s car.” Sue says, “You left it up there, remember?” Before even a tired sigh can escape you, she goes on, “Jared can take you back to Emily’s house and then he’ll drive you back home because you have no business driving a car without a license.”

 

You’d felt like objecting, after all you had just said you didn’t want to be alone with any pseudo-werewolf but the thought of your mother waiting for you back at home spurs you into agreeing with your aunt. You exchange one final look with Emily just as a nurse comes in, interrupting your inner musings.

 

Jared leads the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you smell that?
> 
> It's the smell of an encounter closing in~


	9. February 7th 2006 V

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks to wintalite, Sirenofgore_618 and LittleLeFay and to so many guests for leaving kudos!  
> Always feel good when soemone reads my end notes and don't call me insane so I appreciate it <3

_19:46 PM_

 

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

 

Emily was feeling better, had both her eyes uncovered and whilst she said she would be ready to talk to Uley and... reassure him, you knew that under that facade she put up, she was still very much afraid of him and the world he had more or less pushed her into.

After you had gotten your mother’s car, Jared had talked you into going back to your house and after a few cautious steps into your living room, you had noticed she had left. She did that sometimes but you still had her car…

“Perhaps a friend picked her up?” Jared asked from where you had left him in the doorway.

It had happened before so you left it at the back of your mind. The thoughts of wolves and imprints swam around in your mind, slowly eating away at your sanity when the two of you walked around the house – no way he was going inside. He was resolute in showing you he wasn’t lying, that none of them were trying to cause any harm but he had to do it where no one could see you and he had to get naked too.

 

Yeah, right. You had wanted to tell him to fuck off but he had had plenty of occasions to hurt you during the car drive, in the empty parking lot of the hospital, at Emily’s cabin or even in your own house.

 

Still, you firmly stayed near your house’s backdoor – just in case you had been right all along – and he walked towards the trees and disappeared. He had told you to wait before following him but you had been too scared to take a step towards the edge of the woods, too scared of finding a knife shining under the moonlight or the very cold muzzle of a handgun pressed against your temple. Your phone buzzed in your hand, it was Sue, telling you Em would be discharged tomorrow afternoon.

 

Then, as you put your phone back in your coat’s pocket, a strange feeling coursed through you. A touch, an invisible hand traced its cold fingers against your spine and you looked up in alarm. The woods were dark, the snow appeared a light gray because of the dusk settling in and glacial fear overcame you. You inched back towards the backdoor, eyes still lost in the distance, looking for any signs of movement when a noise resounded from your left.

Snow crunched under the heavy footfalls of a person, getting louder as they advanced towards the house. Your throat seized up, your hand reached for the cold doorknob.

 

“Jared?” You called out, feeling stupid for falling for such an obvious trick and getting spooked by this idiot. What if he had just been waiting for someone else to help him? Before you could center yourself, you heard a quite loud whine coming from the same place you heard the ‘footsteps’ and a sharp bark emitting from the other side. You freeze up, cold dread settling heavily over your heart until you realize those have to be your neighbor’s dogs. You let out a shaky sigh, relieved.

Those mutts always find a way to get their collars off, you’ll phone Mathias later to tell him. They’re huge things with thick fur, they’ll be alright out there in the cold and they may have never attacked you but they’re not that friendly either and have more than once growled at you when you passed by.

You twist the brass knob in your hand and prepare to step back inside when a shadowy figure stalks out of the woods. First, you think it’s a bear, that thing is far too huge to be one of your neighbors’ Newfoundlands but something – clearly not your survival instincts – urges you to stay still, to take a better look.

 

It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.

 

You stay put, one foot inside your kitchen and one still on the porch, and plainly stare. The figure is, indeed, canine in appearance and whilst it is as big as a grizzly bear, perhaps even bigger – you have to remind yourself that no bear wonders this close to the houses – it is, indeed, a giant wolf.

The creature has its massive jaw closed, its dark fur is covered in a thin layer of snow. It exhales and huge puffs of steam escape from its nostrils, they almost draw your attention away from the unusual dark eyes of the beast standing mere feet away from you.

 

You hear your name being yelled from behind you and that’s what it would have taken you to fully step inside and slam the door closed behind you if it hadn’t been for your awful instincts deciding not to kick in. Instead, you stay still, your very human eyes meeting the thing’s.

There’s this also very human voice telling you to step inside now coming from behind you but Jared’s words mean nothing to you, especially not when a paw larger than your face sinks into the snow as the wolf starts getting closer.

 

And then its face gets blurry, so blurry in fact that your kitchen’s countertop appears in your line of sight. In seconds, you find yourself sprawled on your back in your kitchen with a panicked Jared on your left, looking outside the wide open door, your head is ringing, the house is really cold for some reason. Your coat is so heavy too, you should take--

 

“ **The wolf!** ” You scream just as Jared lifts himself off the ground. The shock from the fall seems to have awakened your stupid lazy brain, “I saw it! You? No, not you!”

 

“That was Paul,” Jared acknowledges, “I need to get to him. Now. And you…” A small pause, “Wait here.”

 

You’re sitting up just as he steps outside and on your hands and knees you crawl to the open door and watch, mouth hanging open and dumbfounded, as Jared tears clean through his jeans and explode in a ball of brown fur before losing sight of him as the wolf tears into the snow with giant paws before disappearing into the woods.

Distant noises of crsuhed twigs and rustling leaves arise but then... silence.

You stare at the snowy landscape, rendered mute by the sight. You’re sitting back on your ass, eyes roaming the surrounding trees, waiting for anything to come alive or slink behind the bushes. Eventually when you can’t feel the tip of your nose anymore, you reach to close the door and try to walk on weak legs.

There’s a kick in your lungs, a lump in your throat and next thing you know, you’re emptying your stomach all over your mother’s clean carpet. The smell’s foul, the putrid taste makes you gag some more. If you had been one of those overly dramatic white punk-rock girls flocking the beach at the most random times of the day, you would have thought this was your body’s way of renewing itself, letting go of your past world vision to welcome very real supernatural beings into your life but that’s bullshit so you’re not going to say that, hell you should probably don’t even think about it – that’s how stupid it is.

 

You take a hot shower, brush your teeth and clean the floors before retreating to your room just as your mom arrives. She complains about the overpowering smell of bleach and then you come clean and tell her about feeling nauseous. You don’t mention you may have overreacted and cried hysterically for a few good minutes after witnessing a man turn into an actual wolf since Sue’s hard stare comes back to mind like a bad migraine.

Obviously, admiting you were sick wasn’t the best thing to say because she pins you with a dark look and asks you if you’re pregnant.

You spend a good twenty minutes trying to convince her that you're a virgin, still disturbed over what you just witnessed and feeling your throat seize up every now and then before she tells you off to your room and you go, ultimately falling asleep with a great giant void in your chest.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, my mother told me something when I was 9 and it was; "Never have sex before marriage or you'll get sick and die" and to this day, whenever I get in the mood I think of the ways I could die and it's really distracting.
> 
> You ever read that tweet from the guy who ruptured his airway because he was sucking a magnum-sized dong? I'm scared it could be me -- and I'm even more scared because I know I'd be proud of surviving that.


	10. February 8th 2006

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's 10 am, I am in spanish lit and I want to die so have a little piece of my soul.

You dropped your phone on the back porch, you notice after waking up the next day. It’s not plugged in, not under your pillow, in the kitchen or anywhere else. Perhaps your mom took your phone? – Impossible, she would have made a big show of it. You poke your nose outside to try and spot it but the backdoor doesn’t budge anymore than that. You try and pry it more open with all your might but then it hits you that the lower part of the door’s snowed in. Typical.

You go to the living room and try the front door and it slowly gives in before opening completely, letting in all that nasty cold air. Your mother’s car is gone, she must be angry, it’s way too early for her to go to work.

You’d even think that by this weather, she’d call in sick or at least call her boss to know what she’s supposed to do. You’re already dressed from head to toe in your warmest clothes and proceed to walk to the back of the house to get your phone. The snow crunches under your boots, you even slip awkwardly a couple of times but keep the thought of your frozen phone in your mind. It’s a little flip phone with a colored stripe in the middle and many ugly stickers so you reason it should be easy to spot in this white background.

 

However, whilst a quarter of your mind is centered on your missing phone, the remaining three quarters is running around, screaming in your own little head and demanding answers concerning last night’s events where – not one, no ma’am – but two enormous wolves had appeared in front of you. You rack your brain for rational explanations, for any little info from yesterday’s happenings.

You had been wearing your mother’s old coat, a huge thing with an even thicker collar so there was no way you could have been pricked by a syringe. You had also not ingested anything ever since you’d left home to go see Emily. Hell, you had even thrown up after coming back inside.

Perhaps it had really been the neighbor’s dogs? It’s not like you can go and check for animal prints with last night’s new snowfall. You drop to your knees and bat away the snow on the porch with your gloved hands in search of your phone. “Please, let it be dogs,” You say under your breath, just a little freaked out you’re once more talking to yourself. Perhaps you had swallowed something, breathed in whatever and became delirious because that’s how drugs worked, right?

 

Right?

 

God.

 

So caught up in your little monologue and your ears swiftly tucked beneath a pair of fluffy earmuffs, you don’t hear heavy footsteps from behind you and the clearing of a throat. You sniff and wipe at your puffy nose, as if that’s the time to get a fucking cold, when there are fucking junkies… Werewolves? Fuck… You can’t actually be sick with those sick fucks around--

 

Oh, that was your name just now. Wasn’t it?

 

You lift your head from where you’ve been staring at the cold wood boards making up the small porch and over your shoulder to see someone looking at you. You scan his face, trying to determine if you know the man standing behind you. Tall guy with a parka on, clearly Quileute, sporting tan skin even in this fucking time of the year, short hair and brown eyes--

“Looking for this?” He asks, fishing a phone – your phone, you can tell by that tacky peace sticker on the front – out of his jean’s pocket. He nestles the small electronic in his huge palm but you don’t reach for it.

 

“Maybe.” You reply, still not sure of the guy’s identity. He looks to be in his early twenties and that is not someone your mother or you could be acquainted with. Perhaps that’s a friend of Leah’s? You get up, feeling a little surer now that you’re standing on the steps, “Who are you?”

 

The stranger smiles. It’s really a small, tight lipped smile coupled with a strangely intent gaze and he says, “Paul.”

 

Your brain spends a good minute fuming and turning gears before remembering that Jared had talked about a Paul when he tore himself away from you and rushed outside. Paul must have been the gray beast that had stalked out of the woods and approached the house, approached you.

Your brain also spends another minute trying to decide how you should react, it seems like it really thinks it’s the best thing to retch what’s left in your stomach or forget the phone and rush back inside to safety but you simply say “Oh.” Then after a moment when you can’t look him in the eye anymore, you add, “Alright.”

 

“I found this.” He switches your phone to his other hand, the gray snow in between your feet looks very interesting, “I saw you drop it last night, wanted to give it back.”

 

“That’d happen,” You say, with Jared hurling his giant frame at you to force you back inside. And he drops it in your hand, you’d expect the casing to be cold but it’s hot as if it had been toasting next to a chimney. You chance a second look at him after that little surprise, “Thank you.” You both stand awkwardly like you’re some sort of badly written soap opera characters waiting for an off-voice to finish its lines and you fear this drawn-out pause may last another five minutes up until your phone emits a soft chime and buzzes in your hands.

 

That seems to reactivate a part of Paul’s brain and he starts talking. “Jared”, He says the name like a curse, you notice. “--was supposed to come back yesterday but he heard your mother coming home, he didn’t want her to get angry.”

 

That is, actually, really thoughtful since you know for a fact that she’d flip if she saw a man in your house. And with last night’s accusations… “Right, that would not have been ideal.” You take a long look towards your neighbor’s yard and whilst you do spot his blue truck covered in snow, there is no other sign of life apart from that. You don’t want to take any risks and let your neighbors go and tell your mom about you hanging out with a guy near your house, she would flip for sure.

“You should go.” You say then, toying with your phone’s small stump of an antenna, “I need to get back inside.”

 

“I needed to talk to you.” He actually argues, you hate to admit it – especially to yourself – but that does put you off, “Just for a moment.” If you had bothered to muster enough courage and looked in his eyes, you’re sure you would have seen that same haziness in Sam’s eyes when he laid eyes on Emily clouding Paul’s.

 

“Is it-” You chance another a look at Mathias’ house, you’re almost certain that curtain was drawn just a minute ago, “Is it important?”

 

When you go to flip open your phone if only to have something to do with your hands, he says, “Look at me.” He sounds choked, breathless in a way. You look up past the collar of his parka and over his nose and fight hard not to immediately drop your gaze after two seconds of eye contact. This has the effect of setting your face aflame and a smile tears through his face.

“You’re beautiful.”

 

Oh.

 

OH.

 

You never thought those words could ever provoke such fear and dread.

The sounds that proceed to come out of your mouth are ungracious and extremely inhuman in nature, very much like him in a way. “Thank you.” You choke out, spluttering, “I need. Home. Now.” You take a step back, two and turn to walk to the other side of the house, snow loudly crunching under your boots, no way, no fucking way in hell-

 

His reply comes in the form of a vice grip around your wrist, stopping you dead in your tracks, “You know about imprinting.” Technically that is not question and still you don’t dare answer, “Don’t you?” His last words come with a nice generous squeeze that, despite the heat that he radiates, send cold shivers down your spine – the kind you’d get in movies if a serial killer was getting to strike you down with a knife. You think of fighting him off but that seems unfeasible, he’s too tall, too big and a fucking wolf to boot. Emily’s torn right side comes back to mind and you get choked up, unable to come up quickly enough with a response because there is no way, no possible way you’d be Paul Lahote’s anything. Not in this lifetime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> La Gaviota is the worst novel I have ever laid my eyes upon and I've read three tomes of Vampire Diaries as a child.


End file.
